Gene Pokorny, principal tuba player for the Chicago Symphony and a former member of the Utah Symphony, will be featured in a guest recital Monday, April 12, at 5:30 p.m. in Brigham Young University’s de Jong Concert Hall. He will be joined by University of Utah faculty member Heather Conner on the piano.
Prior to the recital, Pokorny will offer orchestral excerpts and a solo tuba literature performance at 1 and 3:30 p.m., respectively, in E-250 HFAC. All events are free and open to the public.
The recital will include J. S. Bach’s Viola da Gamba Sonata No. 3, “Jabba the Hutt,” from “Return of the Jedi” in the Star Wars trilogy by John Williams, “Monument” by John Stevens and Three Piano Preludes by George Gershwin.
Pokorny is a native of Southern California, where he studied tuba. He has played in the Israel Philharmonic, the Utah Symphony, the Saint Louis Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. While in Los Angeles he played in several movie soundtracks including “Jurassic Park” and “The Fugitive.”
In March 2007, Pokorny received an honorary doctorate in music from the University of Redlands, and in May 2006, he received the Outstanding Alumnus Award from the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music.
His visit to BYU is part of his 2010 Utah Recital Tour. In appreciation for the time he spent in the Utah Symphony from 1978 to 1983, Pokorny is spending several weeks in Utah this spring presenting tuba recitals, music appreciation classes, master classes and clinics at universities, schools and community houses.
For more information, contact Steve Call at (801) 422-6116 or at stevecall@byu.edu.
Writer: Ricardo Castro
